1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a technique for controlling a vehicle having an idle stop function.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, in order to achieve low fuel consumption of a vehicle, an idle stop (also referred to as idle reduction) technique is widely used. With regard to a technique for performing the idle stop, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-208639 (JP-2009-208639 A) discloses a technique in which the type of a battery provided in a vehicle is identified based on characteristics of the battery and, in a case where it is determined that the battery different from a battery for an idle-stop vehicle is provided in the vehicle, the execution of the idle stop is prohibited.
However, in the technique disclosed in JP-2009-208639 A, even in a case where the battery for the idle-stop vehicle is erroneously identified as a normal battery due to some cause, the execution of the idle stop is prohibited. As a result, there are cases where the idle stop function cannot be properly executed even when the battery for the idle-stop vehicle is provided in the vehicle. Therefore, a technique that allows proper execution of the idle stop function in the vehicle having the idle stop function is in demand. In addition, in conventional vehicles, proper determination of battery replacement, simplification of a configuration, a reduction in cost, and an improvement in usability are in demand.